The Grow Bed we all wish for: A bountiful harvest free of pests and disease. This spring, I was pleased to get an e-mail from my newly retired Aunt Ila, who wanted to start a vegetable garden in Michigan. I set her up with a 3×6′ Grow Bed, a link to the Kitchen Garden Planner, and my best wishes for a bountiful harvest Well, it’s been a tough year for gardeners. Here in the northeast, intense heat has prevailed for most of the s…
Several years ago, I wrote a book called Passport to Gardening. Each chapter included a brief overview of a particular gardening topic (from annual flowers to water gardening) and recommendations for best books on the topic. In order to make these recommendations, I reviewed more than 400 gardening books. Most of them were sent to me free of charge because I was writing reviews. Can you imagine what fun it was to have 400 gardening books arrive…
…elp and encourage other vegetable gardeners, sharing their story and as much gardening advice as they can. Broadcaster Mélanie Grégoire visited Josée and Michel during their “bed-in” protest which was held on July 22. Their protest was meant to be resminiscent of the “Bed-Ins for Peace” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Photo: Samuel Gaudreau This year, they’re expanding the garden, adding one more raised bed. The…
…ck and eat, and our team members will be tending gardens and talking to passersby about gardening and fresh foods throughout the summer. Our team has 39 years of garden and horticultural experience, ranging in age from 16 to 21. We are excited to make use of our skills from past summers to benefit the community and provide education about healthy eating and gardening as well as food relief support in Minneapolis. Gardening for Good is under the…
The start of a new year feels like a chance to take charge and start over with new goals and a new attitude. Vegetables grow more efficiently in raised beds. My garden and I share some shortcomings, so this year I’m writing resolutions for both of us. We have some lofty goals for 2009. We resolve to lose weight and get in shape, become less cluttered and better organized. We will finish projects — one or two, at least — and fulfill a few…
…ther is one of those formidable Yankees you hear about, and she takes her gardening seriously. When I was young, she had a vegetable garden that took up a third of our backyard. It had started out manageably enough as two 8 x 20-foot beds. But every year, under her foreman’s eye, we kids would tear up more sod and till cart-loads of manure into the exposed earth. Eventually it grew into a 2,400-square-foot mini-farm, with compost bins made…
…of mulch conserves moisture and keeps the weeds out. “Overall, I only have to spend one or two hours a week maintaining this garden.” Low-maintenance is even more essential at her 90-acre country home because she’s only there 25% of the time. “Gardening in southern Utah is a challenge because we’re located at 7,100 feet and have hot days and cool nights,” says Nancy. To keep the wildlife at bay, she has fenced in a quarter-acre area for 30 fruit…
Think you’ve had a hard year in the garden? You’re not alone. Vegetable gardeners are calling this season the worst in recent memory. A squash plant in our display garden, during better times. A squash vine borer, one of the many challenges of summer 2009. More than 50 percent of the squash plants in our display garden were hit by this pest. The unmistakable footprint of a deer….
…less. I thought that there was nothing that I could really do. Instead of just sitting back, I decided that I wanted to do something. I wanted to do anything, so I began to think about another passion of mine, food. Back in 2006, I got more interested in food and how it affects our health. I’m talking about real food and not the processed garbage that’s become identified and accepted as food these days. There’s a lot involved in getting…
…ve been saving year to year (it first came in a bag of mixed colors); Green Star Gladiolus; Verbena bonariensis. It looks like another banner year for vegetable gardening. Results from the National Gardening Association’s 2009 Gallup Survey predicts a 19 percent increase — 43 million people are planning to grow a vegetable garden! That’s music to our ears and we’re doing everything we can think of to fan the flames of this vegetable gardening…